Got my first truck - Gen 1 - 330K

Hi All,

Just joined as I have found tons of useful info here as I've been hunting to make my first Tacoma purchase. I'm coming from an 02 Lexus IS300 with 315K miles on it and before I bought that I was driving my Grandpa's 2-door 2011 tacoma (which my sister is now driving). All three vehicles happen to be silver so somehow this "feels like home."



It is certainly a truck that has 330K miles on it - little dents and dings everywhere - but the panels are free from any major damage (save for a couple things I'll mention in a bit). The thing looks like its mint from a few yards away. From what I can tell it has all the options except towing package but if someone has a complete list of options available on the 02 models, I'd love to know for sure. Interior is great and everything seems to be bone-stock (I've been burning some blank CDs since I can't hook my phone up lol).

Mechanically the thing seems great - drive and ride are smooth. Maintenance records are plentiful and I even called the dealership where it was maintained and they said the owner would always do all the maintenance and repairs they recommended. It had the frame replaced (under recall) about 9 years and 100K miles ago and the rear end replaced about 4 years ago. Engine and transmission appear to be original.

Now I guess the bad:

• The check-engine bulb is blown so I'll need to rip apart the dash and it's failing the smog test according to my OBD2 scanner (I guess a bad cat or 02 sensor? Haven't looked into it much yet but there's no code)
• The rear bumper is rusted out pretty good which I guess is no big deal since the chrome is holding together
• The bed rusted out on either side of the wheel wells which ought to be a fun repair but shouldn't be a problem until I get around to it as the plastic liner seems durable enough
• Just little things you'd expect from an old truck - splash guards missing, cabin rattles, latches not exactly perfectly lined up and smooth, etc.

Anyways, that's a long intro to my entry into tacomaworld and look forward to working on and driving the truck!

 

Welcome to TW!

Good looking truck.

 

Welcome to TW.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Cool purchase.

I'm not sure I'll ever buy another vehicle with a CEL lit up...or certainly one where the CEL is burnt out...BUT, like you, I did with my Tacoma (a 2012).

What helped me in fixing mine was a Blue Driver scanner (other brands would work too) that plugs into the OBD2 port and links with a phone or tablet. It allowed me to see a lot of data from the ECU as well as the codes that are popping up.

If your 02 is the same as my 12 (and I don't know it is)....the ECU runs through a test to verify the O2 sensors are working and if not it will throw a code and set the CEL.

New O2 sensors might (or might not) correct that issue. Other things like exhaust leaks could be the problem....but once you get that working and it can run through the whole diagnostic sequence, verify the sensors are working, it will then check the CAT efficiency. At that point, mine through a different code as my cats were toast. The blue driver scanner indicated that basically the cats weren't doing anything. I don't remember the exact numbers, but lets say the ECU checks the difference between front and rear O2 sensors and wants to see a difference of 10. The scanner showed my difference was 0.02 Not even close.

I got new cats from Toyota as there was still an outstanding recall on my truck for cats. If not, I was going to get the Walker replacement assembly which was under $1000 a few years ago.

 

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome!

@HoosierBuddy thanks for the info. I was looking at the Blue Driver and I appreciate the info. Hoping the CAT isn't burnt but I wouldn't be surprised if it is - it was replaced with a CAT from Midway Mufflers about 5 years ago. Is the Walker replacement assembly pretty reputable?

 

Walker is a well known replacement brand. It was a fraction of the cost of buying it from Toyota. My guess is that if I would have had to pay the dealer to use Toyota parts it would have been about 3 grand. I have never felt so lucky as when I ran my VIN through Toyota's outstanding recall site and found out the truck I bought had exactly one outstanding recall item and that one item was something that was going to cost me a bunch of money to fix....if it wasn't for the recall.

Good news is that was like 2 years ago and the CEL has never been back on....so they fixed if "for real".

My theory is that the previous owner may have ruined the cats by running the truck for years with a bad O2 sensor. The CEL didn't bother him at all. I'm just too OCD about that kind of thing. I couldn't sleep nights until I figured it out and fixed it.

 

That is remarkably lucky!

I'll see what I can figure out. Thanks again for the info.

 

Great truck

Take it out & get it muddy !

 

That's the plan!